Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories

Resumen del libro

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is one of Japan's foremost stylists - a modernist master whose short stories are marked by highly original imagery, cynicism, beauty and wild humour. 'Rashoemon' and 'In a Bamboo Grove' inspired Kurosawa's magnificent film and depict a past in which morality is turned upside down, while tales such as 'The Nose', 'O-Gin' and 'Loyalty' paint a rich and imaginative picture of a medieval Japan peopled by Shoguns and priests, vagrants and peasants. And in later works such as 'Death Register', 'The Life of a Stupid Man' and 'Spinning Gears', Akutagawa drew from his own life to devastating effect, revealing his intense melancholy and terror of madness in exquisitely moving impressionistic stories.

Biografía del autor

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) es considerado un maestro del cuento japonés moderno y una figura clave de la literatura del siglo xx en su país. Su obra, caracterizada por la elegancia estilística y la profundidad psicológica, oscila entre la recreación de relatos clásicos y la introspección existencial. Entre sus textos más conocidos se encuentran Rashômon y En el bosque, que inspiraron la célebre película de Akira Kurosawa.